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No plans to end secret surveillance

Posted at: 06/11/2013 6:18 AM
By: Associated Press

The White House continues under fire for the use of spy programs that keep watch on phone and internet messages around the world. But a top intelligence official says there are no plans to end the surveillance.

The government says the spying is being done in hopes of thwarting terrorist threats. The programs were revealed by Edward Snowden, a longtime employee of government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton.

Snowden - who went public as the leaker of the information - has fled to Hong Kong, hoping to escape criminal charges. But Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee and supports the surveillance, says Snowden has committed "act of treason" - and should be prosecuted.